It is his ability to infect his protégés with enthusiasm and spur them on with
passion and purpose that sets Swaminathan apart, sums up Mr Narasiah’s
assessment. Narasiah quoted from Swamimalai section of Nakkerar's Thirumurugatruppadai, a Sangam poem. Like the deity Swaminathan, who taught vedas to even his father Shiva, Prof. Swaminathan too is spreading knowledge among the
public!

It is a
reflection of Swaminathan’s versatility that he inspires a fellow professor to
admire his unique teaching skill and a writer to admire his power to inspire.
It is also such versatility in the paintings of Ajanta that is one of the
factors that inspired Swaminathan as a ten year old boy, and has continued to
fascinate him for much of his life.

Swaminathans’s
presentation of Ajanta was comprehensive. He began with their location and
purpose. The caves of Ajanta, in a river valley in the middle of unpopulated
jungles, were chosen by Buddhist monks, as places of stay for the four rainy
months, called chatur maasya. They were not too far from the silk road of those
times, and the ancient Satavahana capital of the 2nd century BC,
Prathisthana. And it was perhaps rich merchants and lay people, who carved beds
and monasteries and chaityas and sponsored the paintings of Ajanta, as homage
to the monks.

Prof. Swaminathan presenting Ajanta Paintings

The
paintings of Ajanta are truly indigenous, he said, showing Indian characters in
Indian settings by Indian painters. By contrast, the Buddhist and Hindu
paintings of East and South-east Asia depict Indian characters, even when
suffused with native flavor, while the Christian paintings of Europe depict
stories from Asian origins. Sadly, they are the only large gallery of Indian
classicism, before it changed under the influence of Muslim and European
conquerors.

The
Ajanta school of art seems to be the mother of Indian painting techniques, having
heavily influenced the art of Indian Asia. It can be clearly seen that the
paintings of other dynasties and regions like the Chola, Pallava, Chalukya,
Gupta etc. reflect the Ajanta style, he said.

Bodisattva Padmapani

The
caves were lost to public memory after abandonment in the sixth century. They
were rediscovered by John Smith of the Madras Regiment in 1815. The Royal
Asiatic Society commissioned efforts to copy, preserve and document the
paintings, by people such as Gill and Burgess. Most of these copies were lost
in fire accidents, but undaunted, the stalwarts toiled on, starting again from
scratch.

Episodes
from
the Buddha’s life and select scenes from the Buddha Jatakas, are the
subject matter of the paintings (and the sculptures). There are some
secular scenes and decorative patterns also. But it is the originality
and diversity of representation that make Ajanta stand out. Scenes are
not
painted in sequence but often by their setting. Even the
technology of using dry plaster in Ajanta differs drastically from the European
tradition of wet plaster, he said, explaining why eight centuries of paintings survive.
Texts on painting like Vishnu Dharmottara and Chitra sutra closely reflect the
guidelines used by Ajanta artists.

Ajanta Textiles

He
compared the paintings of Ajanta to the sculptures of the Pallavas and the
Tamil poetry of the Sangam age, in the glory of their classicism: all three, in
his opinion, show a sophistication of theme never since matched, much less
surpassed. While in the west, once a new technique is discovered, all old ones
seem to be abandoned, Ajanta artists never discarded anything, he observed. Perspective,
multiple vision, fore-shortening, coloring even for luminosity and depth,
shading with lines, dots or washing – called patraja, binduja, airika - the Ajanta community’s pastel of techniques surpassed their pastel of colors!

Swaminathan
also showcased various aspects of Indian life, belief, custom, culture,
clothing, jewellery, beliefs etc. that Ajanta reveals to the
discerning viewer. For example, the shops depicted in the paintings look
similar to shops today. While people thought knitting and tailoring were Muslim
imports into India, socks and salwar kameez and ikkat pattern in the
characters’ clothing, exposes these as false.

Enigmas
abound – why are royalty depicted with minimal clothing, while the lower
classes are often fully clothed? Why has every wall and column been painted? Why go to the trouble of painting the ceilings? Why is there so much
sensuousness and joy depicted – after all these caves were the dwellings of
monks who had renounced the pleasures of daily life! What prompted the artist
to sneak in humor, wit, snide observation and the petty jealousies and mundane
aspects of life?

An
interesting Question and Answer session followed, with questions on carbon
dating, Persian influence, etc. Swaminathan expressed his delight at having gone
on a site seminar to Mamallapuram, Ajanta and Ellora and Pudukottai, with like
minded people who have shown curiosity and enthusiasm in learning about our
heritage and have assisted in efforts to spread awareness and pride. He regretted local ignorance of such
treasures.

Gopu
concluded with an invitation to the general public to join the group and
participate in its monthly activities, site seminars, use their website and
invite their friends. He expressed pride in Swaminathan’s efforts to create
another Asiatic Society out of the Tamil Heritage Trust.

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Every year, we organize an event called Pechchu Kachcheri, with a host of talks on a single topic. This year, it is going to be on Mamallapuram. To learn more about this event, click here. Mamallapuram Pechchu Kachcheri

Every year, we go on a study trip to a heritage site. In Jan 2013, we had visited Srirangam. You can follow the photos, audio, video, lectures, reading materials and more from that trip here. Srirangam Site Visit

Mahabalipuram - Unfinished Poetry in Stone, A coffee Table book in English by Prof. S. Swaminathan. Photos by Ashok Krishnaswamy. Click here to buy.